Introduction
Hello everyone,
For this inquiry, I chose to research racism towards Asians in New Zealand.
I chose this because there is an increase in Asians living in New Zealand. It is estimated that the percentage of Asians in New Zealand will rise from 16 per cent in 2018 to 26 per cent in 2043. An increase in Asians will cause more Racism in New Zealand, especially among older people who grew up in a less diverse society.
Understanding
Why are people racist towards Asians?
A cause of racism towards Asians is the Covid-19 pandemic. In a report led by Massey University senior lecturer Sally Liu, she said that 22.7% of the 402 respondents in 2020 noted they had been discriminated against because of Covid-19, and 33% of the respondents said others in their social group experienced racism or discrimination and 45.8% reported that they had noticed racism beyond their social circle. The respondents came from 14 Asian countries but Chinese respondents particularly reported a sense of discrimination.
My thoughts about this are that because the covid pandemic originated in China and people can blame Chinese or Chinese-looking people for being the cause of the pandemic.
A second reason people are racist is that they do not have enough knowledge. when people talk about other races’ cultures and traditions if they don’t have a full understanding of these it can lead to them making mistakes when discussing them which could be taken offensively. People can make fun of or offend other races without realising they are, they might just be joking but the other person doesn’t realise it.
What about the history,
Well in the late 19th century white nativists spread xenophobic propaganda about Chinese uncleanliness in San Francisco. This led to the outrageous Chinese Exclusion act in the U.S, the Chinese Exclusion act was the first and only major federal law to stop immigration for a certain nationality.
How does my chosen text help me understand my social justice issue?
The text I chose was a TEDx talk
the Tedx Talk was an insightful talk by 18-year-old Canwen Xu who was born in China and moved to the U.S when she was 2 years old. She said that having grown up in North Dakota, South Dakota and Idaho, all states with incredibly low racial diversity, she was used to being the only Asian in the room.
As a child, she realised that there were two options in front of her, conform to the stereotype that was expected of her or conform to the whiteness that surrounded her there was no in between. She always felt self-conscious about being good at maths because people would say it was because she was Asian and not because she actually worked hard. Whenever a boy asked her out people would say it was because they had the, quote “yellow fever” not because they actually liked her. She said that her identity had formed around the fact that she was different. She used to think that being Asian was the only special thing about her. All of these effects were emphasised by the places she lived.
My conclusion is that location plays a big role in racism. Some places in the world such as New Zealand are accepting of races, and there are some places where racism is more prominent.
Consequences and Effects
How are Asians affected by racism?
Racism can impact people’s self-esteem and make them feel ashamed or embarrassed about their heritage. Racism can also cause people to not want to go to school. It can cause headaches, increased heart rate, sweating, trembling and muscle tension. These impacts can reduce people's ability to work, study and achieve their future goals.
Racism can also contribute to the onset of disease. Also, discrimination is linked to higher rates of smoking, alcohol use, drug use and unhealthy eating habits.
Solutions
What are the possible solutions?
Large-scale Solutions,
Racism is a big issue that is difficult to solve but it's not impossible and these are some solutions. One large-scale solution is educating young people about racism and educating children about biases, stereotypes, discrimination and abuse, and showing them how these things affect other people and why they shouldn’t be racist. This could help eliminate racism in future generations. Also letting children discuss their thoughts about these issues is a good way to confirm whether they understand or don’t understand the issues. A second large solution is to do the same as Australia where it is against the law to discriminate due to race in public.
Small scale solutions
A small-scale solution to racism is reporting it to a trusted person -or a person you know will do something about it- when you see it, these are some examples of things you should report, name-calling, jokes or statements which are stereotypical or prejudiced, teasing because of ethnicity and race and physical abuse. If you don’t tell anyone about it, it could keep happening or it could get worse. Another solution is being an upstander instead of a bystander. Standing up to racism is a powerful sign of support, but is usually of putting to people because they feel that if they try to stop it they could become a target of the abuse. It may be uncomfortable or intimidating to stand up to racism, but even if you don’t want to or can’t stand up to racism there is still something you can do. You can check with the victim to see if they are ok and help them to make sure someone knows what has happened.
Conclusion
The main cause of racism towards Asians is not understanding their culture. The best solution is to educate young people about biases, stereotypes, discrimination and abuse.
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